So you’ve always had a passion for people and an interest in the healthcare system, processes, and practicalities. But you’ve already gone to college for something else, or you’re just not passionate or particularly gifted in actual on-the-hospital-floor work. Yet at the end of the day, you still find yourself wanting to be involved in taking care of people. Maybe you just want to provide the doctors and hospital workers with the resources they need to do their job.
Well, you may be surprised to find out that there are several healthcare jobs that are extremely important and need to be filled by good people right now that are more behind the scenes. If it sounds too good to be true, well, check it out: Our population is rapidly aging, and our world population is growing at a near-as-fast rate!
It doesn’t take much to see that the need for healthcare will increase with the population as well as an increase in health problems caused by aging, we’ll need more people involved in the industry. Not just caretakers but people who can optimize the system behind the scenes while still ensuring that everyone is taken care of. Here are some ways you may be able to do that:
The Data Front
The big thing in the technology world right now is data — the storing, transfer, and utility of information on digital formats. It’s making a lot of things possible that were never possible before. An industry as great and important as the healthcare industry needs some navigation and optimization with the newfound use of data being used in treating people all around the globe.
A Data Science degree can give you the skill set to transform this industry, even if one step at a time. In fact, some are even claiming a digital health revolution is underway already. Developing mobile health apps and wearables are two data-centered applications in the healthcare industry that are desperately needed right now. The use of data can organize patient information as well as be used to prevent mistakes in ways that were not doable before without this technology. Data expertise certainly has its place here and is a relevant study for being involved in people’s health.
The Administration Front
The healthcare industry is often at odds with the powers that be. Whether financial decisions, hospital policy, or the laws surrounding it, one thing is for certain: healthcare needs good people making its decisions. The industry needs someone that knows a thing or two about the pitfalls of our system, in addition to common health problems and how to manage their money. And the industry needs someone with a sense of priorities. It needs someone who cares about people more than money but also understands that money is always an issue and affects the care people are given.
Luckily, there are jobs and degrees designed specifically for healthcare administration, not just medical operations. An MHA, or Masters in Health Administration, can get you government agency jobs, clinical management, patient care administration, and more. These jobs, of course, do require knowledge about medical care and the on-the-ground healthcare processes, but applicants need to be able to combine that knowledge with the job of an overseer who works hard with everyone behind the scenes as well. The best person to work a job like this is one with a heart for people and an extensive knowledge of finances. If that’s you, you could be doing more good in this industry than you’d ever guess.
Behind the Scenes
You’d be surprised at the amount of miscellaneous behind-the-scenes healthcare jobs. It comes down to creating the technology and things that make medical processes, testing, and operations possible. Right now, nursing education is in growing need of players to revolutionize it. Now, this doesn’t just mean nurse educators themselves, but people who know a thing or two about education systems and organization between classes, teachers, and students.
There’s a lot of room for biomedical engineers to lend their help to the field of medicine right now as well. As previously stated, the world is growing at an alarming rate, and previous generations are overall coming into a place where many individuals will need medical attention due to the number of children born in the baby boom. New medicine and ways to optimize medicine in order to get it to the most people possible are important. Biomedical engineers are some of the most valuable and needed by large players in the medicine game due to their wide range of study and by extension their massive abilities to help people. They’re only one example of needed professionals right now though. Never hesitate to look at the skills you possess and, should you want to help people, find ways to use them in the healthcare industry.
By Devin Morrissey: Devin is a jack of all trades from Daly City, but now roams the West Coast. He returns home to coach rugby and fix his friends’ cars, but luckily he can write from anywhere.
